


All I Want For Christmas

by flawedamythyst



Category: Marvel
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Ice Skating, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:22:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28453821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flawedamythyst/pseuds/flawedamythyst
Summary: Bucky goes ice-skating with Clint, against his better judgement.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Clint Barton
Comments: 15
Kudos: 129





	All I Want For Christmas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hopelessly_me](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hopelessly_me/gifts).



“Okay,” said Clint as he drained the last of his second mug of coffee of the morning, which meant he was now fully awake and ready to start the day. Not that Bucky had been paying close attention to him or anything. It just made sense when he’d only just joined the team to try to get to know the other members a bit better, especially the ones he knew the least about, like Clint. His broad shoulders and sparkling blue eyes had nothing to do with it. 

Clint looked around at the kitchen full of Avengers. “Who’s coming ice skating?”

There was a chorus of groans and denials. 

“You’re kidding, right?” asked Tony. “I am staying right here, where the egg nog is.”

“Aw come on,” said Clint, glancing about for likely suspects. “Nat?”

“No,” she said, without bothering with a further excuse.

They were in what Tony had described as a ‘cabin’, but which felt pretty close to a mansion to Bucky, tucked in the middle of the woods somewhere in upstate New York. It had been announced by Steve and Tony that they all needed a ‘proper Christmas break’ with pretty much no notice, and then they’d been ushered onto a quinjet as if Bucky hadn’t already spotted the TV headlines about exactly where the Winter Soldier had found sanctuary, or heard the crowd of reporters gathering outside the tower.

“Is there seriously a rink here?” asked Sam. “What kinda ‘rustic cabin’ has a goddamn rink?”

“Nah,” said Clint, “This place is swanky, but it's’ not that swanky. There’s a pond. Totally frozen solid though, I’ve skated here before. C’mon, it’ll be fun.” 

Bucky tried to remember if he’d ever been ice skating. Nothing came to mind, and from the look on Steve’s face, he wasn’t having some nostalgic memory of their childhood.

“Oh hell no, man,” said Sam. “I’ve seen too many movies where the kid goes straight through and everything gets tragic and emotional.”

“You jump out of planes with a pair of wings strapped to your back on a regular basis,” pointed out Natasha.

Sam just shrugged at her. “That’s just gravity, this is _ice_.”

Steve cleared his throat, “Yeah, I think I’ll stay here as well. Try and stop Tony drinking all the egg nog.”

Clint’s shoulders slumped slightly, but he didn’t argue. He just glanced around again at everyone who had said no. “Okay, fine, you guys are all losers, but I’m happy to go on my own.”

And maybe Bucky didn’t know the guy that well, but he felt like he already had enough of a handle on his personality to know that him ice skating alone on a pond that may or may not be fully frozen had a high chance of ending in disaster.

“I’ll come,” he said, before he’d had a chance to really think about it.

Clint turned to look at him with surprise. “You sure? I didn’t think ice would be your thing either.”

Bucky just shrugged at him. “Winter Soldier,” he reminded him. “I can handle some ice.” It had mainly been the confined space of the cryotube he hadn’t liked, anyway. The actual freezing had been something of a relief. “Are there gonna be any spare skates for me?”

“Oh, there’s a closet full of them in the mudroom,” said Tony, waving vaguely. “All different sizes. You should be able to find some to fit you.”

Of course there were. Because that was a normal thing people had at their ‘cabin’.

All bundled up against the sharp bite of cold in the air, Bucky followed Clint through the snowy woods to the pond, listening to his easy chatter about other times he’d skated here, and how he used to be able to convince Nat to come with him, and a hundred other things that didn’t quite cover the faint awkwardness. This was the first time they’d been alone, just the two of them, and maybe even the first time they’d had a proper conversation as well.

Not that Bucky had been _avoiding_ Clint. He just… He didn’t really know how to talk to him. He’d forgotten how he used to talk to hot guys without getting distracted by their biceps.

When they got to the pond, Clint sat on a log and started to put his skates on, face lit up with glee. “I’ve been looking forward to this,” he said. “Best part of having to evacuate from Manhattan to avoid the paparazzi. Ah, I mean…” he sent a worried look at Bucky, who just rolled his eyes.

“I think the Steve’s the only one who thinks I’m dumb enough to think we’re really here for Christmas,” he said, sitting beside Clint and starting to take his boots off so he could put the skates on.

Clint shrugged. “It’s not the worst way to spend Christmas,” he said. “I reckon Tony’s just as pleased to be avoiding all those fancy-ass parties he gets roped into at this time of year.”

He got his skates on a lot quicker than Bucky did and stood up immediately, wobbling the two steps to the ice before stepping out onto it with arms spread. “Aw yeah,” he said happily to himself, and then pushed off.

And, shit. He was good. Really good. He made it look effortless to glide across the pond, doing a fancy spin before curling around the edge and starting to pick up speed. “It’s definitely thick enough!” he called to Bucky.

Jesus, that should have been something he checked before skating right across the middle.

“Are you coming?” asked Clint as he sailed past where Bucky was still sitting, hands on his laces as he stared.

Fuck. Those times at the range, pretending he was concentrating on his own target while really watching just how beautiful Clint was with a bow in his hands, had nothing on how graceful Clint looked right now. Clint took off into a little jump, then followed it up with another spin and, Jesus, how was Bucky meant to cope with this?

He forced himself to finish putting on his skates, then carefully stood up. Clint whizzed past again, then doubled back to glide to a halt in front of him.

“I’ve not done this before,” said Bucky, gingerly stepping onto the ice, part of him just waiting for it to crack under him.

“No problem,” said Clint, “You know how to move, you’ll be good at it. Just remember to slide, not step, and...here.” He held out his hands and Bucky, with a sense of resignation, took them in his own.

“Let me guide you for the first bit,” said Clint and, yep, he was keeping hold of Bucky’s hands as he slowly skated backwards, grinning in a way that Bucky really wanted to kiss off his face. Fuck, this was a disaster.

“Okay, don’t just let me do all the work, come on,” said Clint. “Move your feet. Winter Soldier, right? You’ve got this.”

Bucky forced himself to start moving, tearing his eyes off Clint’s face to watch his feet instead, watching how he moved them and then trying to replicate it.

“Yeah, that’s it,” said Clint, and let go of one of Bucky’s hands, gently turning so he was skating at his side instead. At his side and holding hands, skating in a circuit of the pond like a couple on a Victorian Christmas card, shit. Bucky fumbled one of his feet at the thought, losing his balance for just long enough to need Clint to keep him upright, squeezing tightly to his hand.

“Hey, you’ve got this. Easy, right?” asked Clint as they slowly made it around the pond.

“Sure,” said Bucky, not really meaning it as he concentrated on keeping the glide of his skates smooth and careful. “I’ll be doing spins in no time.”

Clint snorted, “Yeah, maybe not.” He let go of Bucky’s hand and Bucky immediately wanted to stumble again to get it back, but that felt underhand so instead he kept on skating as best he could while Clint hovered at his side and watched him.

“You’re a natural,” he said after another careful circuit of the pond. “Shoulda figured you’d be good at this as well as everything else.”

Bucky wasn’t sure about that. It felt like there were plenty of things he wasn’t good at. He let it go though, watching as Clint sped up, spinning another turn and then doing a little leap as Bucky carefully kept skating around in his orbit.

“You’re really good,” he said, and won himself one of Clint’s beaming smiles.

“Thanks!”

“Guess I shoulda figured,” said Bucky, concentrating on gently curving his way around the edge of the pond, and so maybe letting his mouth run more than he should have. “You’re a graceful guy.”

Clint spun to skate backwards so he could look at Bucky with surprise. “Mostly people call me clumsy.”

Bucky snorted. “Hardly. When you’re paying attention, you’ve got complete control of yourself. It’s just, sometimes you stop paying attention.”

“Huh,” said Clint, and he spun back around, skating off down the pond.

Shit, Bucky shouldn’t have said that. He wasn’t meant to be paying that much attention to Clint, he was going to give himself away.

Clint did a fancy-looking figure of eight, then turned back around to come back towards Bucky. “You doing okay,” he said, apparently letting the subject drop. Bucky let out a breath of relief. “You want to try some fancier shit?”

Bucky looked down at his feet, which he’d been letting move on autopilot, which turned out to be a mistake. As soon as he was actually thinking about what he was doing, he lost the rhythm of it, stumbling and then trying to right himself by lifting a foot, which just made it worse. He nearly came to grief, but Clint was there, holding his arm and keeping him upright.

“Shit okay, maybe not,” he said, keeping hold of Bucky as they stopped moving and Bucky got his feet back under him.

He was very close and still holding on to Bucky’s arm, and the cold had made his nose go pink in a way that made Bucky want to nuzzle against it.

Bucky cleared his throat, attempting to pull away without falling over. He didn’t really get very far. “Thanks,” he said, and it came out breathier than he’d intended it.

“No problem,” said Clint, not moving away either. “Hey, uh, so. Can I try something, in the spirit of Christmas?”

He was so much taller than Bucky. Shit, if they went to bed together, Clint would be able to completely cover Bucky with his body, pressing him down into the mattress.

Bucky should not be thinking about that right now. “Spirit of Christmas?” he repeated.

“Yeah, you know. Truth and goodwill towards mankind, and not stabbing a guy taking a chance on what he really wants for Christmas.”

Clint had shifted further forward on his skates and his grip was now less about holding Bucky up, and more about just holding on. Bucky felt his heart begin to lift.

“And what do you really want for Christmas?” he managed.

Clint hesitated, then said quietly, into the still, cold air, “I kinda really want a kiss from you.”

Oh shit.

Bucky stared at him for a moment until Clint winced and started to gently move away. “Sorry-” he started, and Bucky’s hand moved without him thinking about it, grabbing Clint’s sleeve. 

“I guess it is Christmas,” he said, not letting Clint finish his apology. “And I didn’t have time to get any presents before we came out here, so you’d be saving me some hassle.”

Clint’s whole face lit up and, shit, this close it was pretty much dazzling. “Seriously?” he asked, then leaned in without waiting for an answer, moving slowly enough that Bucky could have ducked away if there was a chance in hell of him ever wanting to. Instead he leaned in, resting his hand on Clint’s shoulder as their lips touched together, gently at first and then deeper. Bucky’s eyes shut as he gave into the feeling, all the emotions he’d thought long muted by Hydra rushing back. He gripped tighter at Clint’s shoulder and moved in closer and-

And one of his skates went out from under him and he fell backwards, pulling Clint down with him as he landed hard on the ice. All the air was driven out of his lungs and it took him a moment to pull his brain back away from how it had felt to kiss Clint enough to realise what had happened.

“Ah shit,” said Clint, sounding less winded. But then, Bucky’s body had broken his fall. “Okay, kissing on ice isn’t beginner stuff.” He gently pulled himself off Bucky, shifting back onto his knees. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” said Bucky, gingerly sitting up and running his hand through his hair to tame it. “Shit. Sorry.”

“Nah, my fault,” said Clint. “Just because this shit is romantic in the movies doesn’t mean it’s a good idea in real life.”

He sounded rueful, and gave Bucky a half-hearted shrug and that was. No. Bucky had just got to kiss him, they weren’t going to end this with Clint feeling like he needed to apologise for anything.

Bucky reached out and took Clint’s hand, squeezing it through both their gloves. “You know what’s romantic and probably wouldn’t involve falling over, and is perfect for just after being outside in the cold? Hot chocolate. How about you let me make you some?”

Clint’s face lit up and he squeezed Bucky’s hand back. “That sounds like a great idea.”

This was going to be a really great Christmas.


End file.
